Saluting Educational Excellence

Saluting Educational Excellence In Broward County Public Schools Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) is the sixth largest public school system in the United States and the second largest in the state of Florida, comprised of 231 traditional schools and 68 charter schools. BCPS is the largest fully accredited K-12 and adult school district in the nation. The school district provides educational programs and services for a multi-ethnic, multilingual school population of more than 250,000 Pre-K through 12th grade students and approximately 175,000 adult students. As Broward County s largest employer, with nearly 37,000 full- and part-time employees, BCPS is a key contributor to diverse and vibrant South Florida communities ranging from rural and suburban to urban cities and municipalities. A global and diverse community, district students speak 53 different languages and represent 173 different countries. In 2011, BCPS again earned an A grade from the state. BCPS has consistently earned an A or B grade since the grading process began. School Name Bragging Points of Excellence Highlight on a Senior Student Atlantic Technical Atlantic Technical students have an opportunity to graduate with a college ready diploma, technical program certificate, industry credentials/licensure and/or articulated college credit. The class of 2010 (120 students) earned in excess of $1.4 million in academic scholarships Silver Medal Recipient (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011) Best s in America, U. S. News and World Report Nicholas Cavallaro Nicholas received an honor cord for high academic standing, silver cord for outstanding community service, National Honor Society cord, Mu Alpha Theta cord for outstanding achievement in math and second place in Payroll Accounting through Business Professionals of America. He has also the student representative on Visioning 20/20, the development of a long range plan for the community of Coconut Creek. Blanche Ely Boyd Anderson Broward Virtual Coconut Creek Blanche Ely continues to lead the county in the number of BRACE (Broward Advisors for Continuing Education) Scholarship awardees. Blanche Ely has two magnet programs: Medical Science and Science/Pre-Engineering. 96% of magnet students attend college, earning $3.5 million in scholarships. One of only four International Baccalaureate (IB) Magnet programs in the County. This year, 22 students earned IB diplomas virtually guaranteeing their entry as sophomores in Florida universities and other major international institutions. Over 300 Boyd Anderson students participate in the school s Mentoring Tomorrow s Leaders Program. BVS is an A school where students can attend classes and earn a high school diploma from their homes or other remote sites. BVS has been selected as the Best Franchise Virtual School in Florida three years in a row, by Florida Virtual School. Home to the Global Academy of Environmental Research and Design Magnet programs. Students are challenged to research and develop their own inventions to solve environmental problems. Won 41 medals (13 gold) in the district s World Languages competition. JROTC unit won Honor Unit with Distinction. Won First Place in Rockets, First and Third Places in Robotics in the South Eastern Consortium of Minorities in Engineering District Competition. Shanda Jean Baptiste Shanda plans to attend the University of Miami and major in Psychology. Her ultimate goal is to create a community center for underprivileged children. Although she works part time, she is ranked 7th in a class of 420. She s a member of the National Honor Society, Secretary of the Ely Scholars Association, class representative in the Student Government Association and, in her spare time, tutors classmates and teaches Sunday school. Vana Noel Vana is bright, energetic, compassionate and genuinely well rounded. She is an active volunteer logging over 350 community service hours in both on the Youth Council and Youth Crime Watch with the City of Lauderdale Lakes. In addition to serving as president of student government, she participated in cheerleading and Ladies of Distinction. Candace Almy She s smart, a leader and very community minded. She s been with BVS since 9th grade and has made it her mission to engage her classmates to think outside the box as they enjoy this unique high school experience. She has used social-networking, coffee-house meetings, phone conferences, teacher interventions, etc., to galvanize her classmates. Roland Desrosiers Roland is an All-Star soccer player and District Champion, All-State qualifier in Track and Field, carries a 3.9 GPA and is taking several honors courses, all the more amazing because he works every night from 2 to 5 a.m. delivering to support his mother who remains in Haiti.

College Academy @ Broward College This is a full-time dual enrollment collegiate high school located on the Central Campus of Broward College. 100% of 2011 graduating class (171 students) earned a high school diploma, an AA degree and are matriculating to universities as upper division students with four-year scholarships totaling over $11 million. Christian Chung Christian has maintained a weighted high school GPA of 5.43, (unweighted GPA, 3.96) while completing an Associate of Arts Degree in Political Science. He has earned numerous college accolades including the Dean s award as Outstanding Student on the Broward College Central Campus. Cooper City Coral Glades An A school with one of the highest graduation rates in the country. 11 National Merit Commended Scholars this year. Thirty-three percent of the senior class earned over 250 hours of community service (90,345 hours). All sports teams combined academic GPA, 3.65. Music Department ranked No. 1 nationally for Indoor Percussions; Marching Band ranked 5th in Florida. Student Government Association won JDM Glove Challenge, raising $1,500 for Joe DiMaggio Children s Hospital. Named Gold Medallion Council within Broward and Silver Medallion Council at the state level. The Prowl named No.1 Student Newspaper in State by Florida Scholastic Press Association. Ranked 2nd best overall paper by Sun Sentinel. Carolina Echeverri Carolina will attend FSU in the Fall and major in International Business. She is one of only 12 state Key Club leaders, serving as the Broward County liaison. She was accepted into the prestigious Congress-Bundestag Youth Exchange program and has so far earned over $40,000 in scholarships. Most recently, she received the G. Harold Martin Award for extraordinary service to others. Adam Waters Adam is the class Valedictorian is a National Merit Finalist and received an Honorable Mention in the Silver Knight awards. He achieved straight A s through high school career culminating with a 5.5179 GPA. He is a member of the Math, History, Science and Spanish honor societies and will be attending Brown University majoring in International Relations. Coral Springs Cypress Bay Deerfield Beach Dillard Business Professionals Association chapter placed in the Top 10 in Graphic Design Promotion, Web Design Team, Financial Analyst Team, Advanced Accounting, and Marketing/Management/Human Resources at the National Leadership Conference in Anaheim, CA. Will offer ten 10 Dual Enrollment courses for the 2011-2012 school year. Cypress Bay Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) won 16 events at state this year. State Champion, Boys Soccer, 2010-2011. In the 7th Annual AP Report to the Nation by The College Board, Cypress Bay is cited as one of the five high schools that helped the State achieve a number one ranking in the nation for percentage of 2010 seniors taking advanced Placement (AP) exams while in high school. 98% of students will be attending colleges including all the Florida schools and Columbia, Northwestern, Ohio State, Duke, Emory, Georgia Tech and dozens of other prestigious schools. Offers three magnet programs: International Baccalaureate, Urban Teacher Academy and Communications/Broadcast Arts. Continually recognized as a top media program in Florida journalism competitions, especially for their yearbooks. Drama program, under the leadership of Lee Tempest, president of the Florida s Region Thespian society, hosts many of the district s thespian annual competitions and has placed at/near the top in all categories. Among the scholarships awarded to the graduating seniors: Ford Salute to Education, Harvard University, Columbia, University of Illinois and National Honor Society. Both a Performing and Visual Art Magnet as well as an Emerging Computer Technology Magnet school. No. 1 jazz band in the country, taking top honors at the 16th annual Essentially Ellington Jazz Band competition & Festival held at Lincoln Center in New York City. Jazz legend Wynton Marsalis presented the band with its trophy and a $5,000 award. Won first place in German in the Broward County World Language Competition. The Robotics Team, sponsored by Motorola and competing against 56 teams from across the U.S., won First Place at the Florida Regional Competition in Orlando. Marcus Levine Marcus will be attending Columbia University in the Fall where he will major in Astro-Physics. He is a National Merit Finalist, a National Hispanic Scholar, Advanced Placement Scholar and a member of the International Thespian Society Isabela Dos Santos Isabela was named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts by the U.S. Secretary of Education one of only 20 students in the nation, and will receive her award from President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. Her award-winning work will be exhibited at the Smithsonian Institute. She is attending the California Institute of the Arts in the Fall, and is only one of 10 students in the world accepted into the Experimental Animation Program. Yamilette Borja Yamilette has a weighted GPA of 4.71. and is ranked 36 out of 597 seniors, a difficult task for non IB students. She is in the Broadcast Arts Magnet program and has dual enrollment status with Broward College. She has over 200 hours of community service, is a member of the National Honor Society and has been very involved in extra-curricular activities, including Student Government, Marching Band, DECA, DFYIT, Crime Watch, Spanish Club and FSPA. Wilkervens Tamar Wilkervens is taking AP classes and is enrolled in Broward College. He ranks third in his class with a GPA of 4.70. He has received the Bill Gates Scholarship and plans to attend Georgia Tech majoring in Engineering.

Everglades Charles W. Flanagan Ft. Lauderdale Hallandale Hollywood Hills McArthur William T. McFatter Technical The school hosts a Holocaust Museum and Tolerance Center. For the third year in a row, Everglades National Science Honor Society brought its Science road show to Silver Lakes Elementary School to encourage the interest of young students in field of science. Color Guard won the World Guard Bronze Medal in the World Championship Competition; Baseball District 6-A champions 6th time in eight years; Cheerleaders won FHSAA Regional 4 championship and placed 3rd in state finals. Band received the Kraushaar Award, the highest award a band can receive in Florida, again for the fifth year. National Merit Scholarship - Special Scholarship JROTC archived multiple awards including a National Designation as Distinguished Unit, placing it in the top 5% worldwide. Silver Medal Recipient, as one of the Best s in America, U. S. News and World Report Only school in Broward County that offers both Pre-Law and Cambridge Magnet programs. Cambridge is a high academic, pre-university program developed by the administrative and research department at Cambridge University. Two students earned the National Forensic League s degree of Premier Distinction, the highest degree in the Honor Society. Only 400 out of 112,000 students receive the honor each year. Million dollar, state-of-the-art graphics lab. Seven of the V Broadcasting Magnet students were accepted into the University of Florida Summer Journalism Institute with scholarships and fellowships. Only 80 students throughout the country were accepted. School s Broadcasting teacher was selected as Broward s Full Sail Advocate, allowing her to select three outstanding students for a pilot $35,000 scholarship to attend Full Sail University, a premier art, music and film school. Several winners and many commended students in the Silver Knight awards program. Will institute a new program next year, Academics for College Excellence ACE - designed to academically challenge students and to prepare them for the rigors of college academics next year. Over the last two years, the sports teams have won five District Championships and sent six athletes to Division 1 schools. The Spartan Band earned superiors in the Florida Bandmasters Association Performance for Marching Bands and has been invited to participate in the McDonalds Thanksgiving Day Parade in Chicago. McArthur offers programs in Criminal Justice, Horticulture, Building Construction, PC Support, Web Design, JROTC, Aerospace Engineering, as well as, Mustang University and MAPS (Mustang Advanced Placement School) programs which allow a student to work on a 2-year college degree while attending high school. First place in the Florida School Board Association s (FSBA) video contest, winning the top prize of $5,000. Chosen as a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education in 2010. An A school since 2001. Silver Medal Recipient, as one of the Best s in America, U. S. News and Students can graduate with a college ready diploma, technical program certificate, industry credential and articulated postsecondary or college credit. Leandria Ates Leandria has continued to earn excellent grades in her most rigorous classes under the most challenging circumstances. She is a celebrated athlete, selected as an All-County flag football player, and is an integral part of the award winning chorus. Her perseverance and determination serve as an example for the students and teachers at the school. Matthew Figueroa Matt will attend Florida State University in the Fall as a pre-med major. He is ranked 48th in his class of 626 graduating seniors. Matthew has a weighted GPA of 4.6364 and has 95 hours of community service. He was a starter on the baseball team helping them make it to the Regional finals. This is quite a feat for a young man who contracted Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis (ADEM) during his junior year, missing the last 5 varsity baseball games and 4 weeks of school because he was paralyzed from the chest down. After a considerable hospital stay, Matt endured a month of rehabilitation where he relearned how to walk, talk, and eat. Kaveena Alexander Kaveena has a grade point average of 3.8689 and ranks number 96 out of 394 students. She is a member of Women of Tomorrow, a mentoring organization assisting young women on the importance of planning, goal-setting, and what success looks and feels like. She has over 1800 hours of community service. She teaches dance to children, teenagers, and adults at her church. Juan Loayza Juan entered Hallandale high school from his native Peru and made learning English his first priority. He succeed, having been name the 2011 Valedictorian. He graduated with a GPA of 4.94. As a dual enrollment student at Broward College, he earned 54 college credits. He will be entering Florida International University as a sophomore and will be majoring in biomedical engineering with a full tuition scholarship. He is a Florida Academic Scholar, obtained the Hallandale Scholarship, the Hallandale Civic Association Scholarship, the Hollywood Scholarship and is the Florida State champion in Jujitsu. He was Key Club member, both a tutor and mentor in the Bilingual tutoring program, and logged 400 hours of community service. Joantell Williams Joantell is an excellent student and has been an integral part of Hollywood Hills. She is in the National Honor Society and an officer in student government. She is Battalion Commander of JROTC and is responsible for overseeing 290 JROTC students. Delmy Martinez Delmy s first year in the United States was her freshman year at McArthur. She knew very little English and started her studies in ELL (English Language Learner) classes. She quickly graduated to regular classes and today, the Dominican Republic native has a weighted grade point average of 3.92, and is currently in two AP classes. Delmy has taken advantage of her high school career and is always motivating her peers and siblings at McArthur to succeed. She will be attending FIU, majoring in Civil Engineering. Shatyra Hall Shatyra was appointed to the United States Air Force Academy Prep School, the first ever from McFatter. This 100% scholarship is in excess of $200,000. Shatyra won the Poetry Outlook contest at the state level and went on to participate at the national level in Washington D.C

Miramar Monarch Offers two magnet programs, International Baccalaureate and Aviation. The Aviation Science Magnet Program is unique in Broward County and offers qualified students an opportunity to prepare for a variety of post-secondary programs leading to careers in the aviation industry through rigorous AP and dual enrollment classes that qualify all aviation students as college and career ready. Gates Millennium Scholarship winner and three National Merit Scholarship finalists. 2011 Boys Basketball team and Girls Flag Football teams both made it to the Final Four of the state championships. Home to the Broward County Teacher of the Year band teacher and director Alvin Davis - who is also a finalist for State Teacher of the Year. Monarch s Knights Excalibur Program offers an accelerated curriculum for 9th and 10th grade students who qualify. To participate, students must have a 3.6 or higher GPA and an FCAT score of 4 or 5. Our JROTC Raiders Team placed second in national competition. Yuk Lane Ng Yuk will be attending the University of Florida to major in Pre-Med and minor in Business Administration. Active in several clubs including the Spanish Honor Society, Doctors without Borders, Interact, French Club, Mu Alpha Theta, Model UN and the Multicultural Club. She was also vice president of the Ecology Club, Secretary of the Club of the Arts, Historian of the National Honor Society, Historian of Key Club and Historian of the International Baccalaureate Student Council. She is an avid volunteer, amassing 637 community service hours at CB Smith Park, Hollywood Beach Clean-ups, American Heart Association Heart Walks and the Project Eliminate walk. Tatiana Graham Tatiana has demonstrated academic excellence and character. She and her siblings survived the January, 2010 earthquake in Haiti, crawling out of the rubble that was once her home. Sadly, her mother did not survive. Tatiana and her remaining family were sent to Florida to live with relatives and she became a Monarch Knight. In a short time Tatiana has become an outstanding student who excels in all areas, having earned straight A s in all of her classes. Northeast High School Nova Piper Plantation Pompano Beach South Broward Business and Entrepreneurship magnet program. The Academy of Architecture and Design offers dual-enrollment options allowing students to earn college credit while technology-oriented design classes are a pathway to scholarship opportunities. An A school for six years in a row. Winner of the Miami Heat s 2nd Annual Black History Month Challenge, earning the school $5,000. Silver Medal Recipient, as one of the Best s in America, U. S. News and WKPX is a live, student run, radio station, broadcasting to 10,000 plus listeners in South Florida. Students are responsible to the FCC, School Board and the public. WKPX is one of biggest college and high school radio stations in the Southeastern United States. Largest, on-site Dual Enrollment Program in county. JROTC leadership team competed in the final Championship round of The 2011 Army JROTC Leadership Bowl and Symposium in Washington D.C. Aerospace Technology and Design program prepares students to compete in the global technological society of the 21st century. Plantation s High Rocket team was ninth in the nation at the Team America Rocketry Competition held in Manassas, Virginia. The school has won more NASA Grants than any other team in the nation. National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence given by the U.S. Department of Education. Both a National Magnet School of Distinction and an Apple Distinguished School (a designation reserved for schools that have demonstrated Apple s highest vision of a successful 21st century learning environment). Silver Medal Recipient, as one of the Best s in America, U. S. News and Marine Science magnet school. Drama Club won numerous awards at state competition and two students qualified for Business Professionals of America national competition. Girls Water Polo team reaches state tournament. Pascale Belony Pascale came from Haiti five years ago and has spent her entire high school career at Northeast. Today, she is preparing to attend the University of Florida on a scholarship. Yenny Jaimes Yenny is a leader within our Naval JROTC program and her commanding officers referred to her as the finest cadet in the program. She was selected as the 2011 Broward County Cadet of the Year. Recipient of the 2011 Principal s Award (including a $500 scholarship) for her leadership and commitment to excellence. Jeanna Harding Three days after the devastating earthquake struck Haiti, Jeanna Harding, an 11th grade student, withdrew from Piper to travel to Haiti to support the recovery efforts. Jeanna returned to complete her senior year of high school. Instead of taking classes at Piper High, she elected to enroll in the Early Admissions program at Broward College to complete her high school requirements and get a jump start on her freshman year in college. This allowed Jeanna to return to Haiti several times to continue her work in the rebuilding efforts. Jeanna plans to attend Lee College in Tennessee and continue her career path in medicine. Haley Edwards An outstanding student with a 5.05 GPA, Haley was Plantation s 2011 Valedictorian. She will attend University of Miami on a full scholarship, majoring in International Relations. Maria Camila Rincon Maria was the Salutatorian with a GPA of 5.1486. She was the student advisor to the Broward County School Board. Her many awards include the President s Education Award, Principal s Award, College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar, Advanced Placement Scholar with Honor, Wellesley College Book Award, District World Language Competition, and a First Place in French 1. She will attend Harvard in the Fall and plans to major in International Relations. Andrius Zickevicius Andrius came from Lithuania in his 9th grade year. Not only did he learn English, but he was senior class president and a key member of School Advisory Council. Andrius graduated with 4.06 GPA and 910 service hours.

South Plantation Marjory Stoneman Douglas Brought the school grade from a D in 2009/10 to an A. Home of the only Everglades Restoration Magnet Program in the country. Environmental Science Teacher Alan Phipps was selected as Broward Teacher of the Year and received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, while teacher Pamela Kraus received the 2010 Governor s Serve to Preserve Green School Award. Over $8.5 million dollars in scholarships. Student Erica Turret was selected for the U.S. Senate Youth Program, one of only two students in Florida to be selected. 19 National Merit Commended Students. 28 National Board Certified teachers. Boy s golf team established a partnership with The First Tee of Broward, teaching students, from elementary to high school, the rudiments of golf. Ernst Pirre Louis Ernst is a senior who will attending FSU. He has a 3.6 weighted GPA and is ranked 179/567. What makes Ernst remarkable is that he became an emancipated youth at 16 after spending two years in the foster care system. He is currently the guardian of his 14-year-old brother and plans on studying politics at FSU, eventually working to change state legislature and the way the foster care system is run in Florida. Chloe Schneider Chloe has devoted hundreds of hours to create and organize a community service project focusing on children with special needs. She ranks in the top five percent of her class and possesses all of the qualities that parents and teachers look for in young people. She will be attending the University of Florida. Stranahan Alix Jean won Congressional Art Award sponsored by Congressman Alcee Hastings. His work will be hung in D.C. where it will remain for the next three years. Thirty-six students from the class of 2011 participated in a pre-engineering program building and then competing against others with robots, plywood boats, mousetrap cars and rockets. Students learned how to manipulate an aquatic robot that is used in search and rescue missions of sunken boats and missing airplanes. They participated in two dual enrollment classes that yielded 6 college credits. Ten of these seniors received SECME scholarships to FAU. Haitao XU After four years of relentless hard work, Haitao is now ranked number 1 in a class of 348 with a GPA of 5.12 and has earned three 5 s on the FCAT test of Reading, Math and Science. He plans to become a pulmonologist by attending the University of Florida where he has fully paid tuition through multiple scholarships such as the President s Gold Scholarship, 100% Bright Futures, Sun Burst Foundation Scholarship, Kiwanis Club Scholarship, and the Rotary Club scholarship. J. P. Taravella Only band in Florida to be asked to play at the Presidential Inauguration. School orchestra was the only orchestra in the county to qualify for Florida State orchestra, receiving a superior rating at state competition. Nineteen DECA members qualified for International Competition. Thirteen of the 19 received awards. Three were top 10 in the world. 1st place in the Florida Association of Student Councils state level competition. Chris Barber Chris is an amazing student. He is Mr. Everything at JP Taravella High. Chris is in the Leadership Program and will be attending Florida State University in the Fall. He has been a baseball player, football player and most recently the only male cheerleader helping the program become co-ed. West Broward Veterinary Assistance program is the only one in Broward. Includes a lab on campus where students have hands-on experience with animal care in pursuance of careers in the veterinary field. Community partnerships have been built with local veterinarians and horse ranches for large animal care. A Green school, using technology to help cut down on paper use and waste. All teachers have their own websites, linked to the school website. Winter Guard won 2nd in the world this year and our marching band won 3rd in the state. Ashley Challenger Ashley biggest love and aspiration in life is working with special needs students and children. She was instrumental in developing the West Broward Bobcat Buddies program. As president she organized dances and special mentoring For the past four years she has coached a Special Needs cheerleading team. She volunteers for the 12th Man Football and Cheer Camp where special needs children get to play in a football game and perform cheers coached by students, Miami Dolphin players and Miami Dolphin cheerleaders. Ashley does this while maintaining a weighted GPA over 4.0. Western The Debate team has won multiple awards on the local and national level i. Reach-Out Western program was selected as Broward County Public School s Secondary-Outstanding Parent Involvement Program of the Year. Won the Huntington learning Center-Mind, Body, Spirit challenge awarded by the Rotary Club of Weston for the past two years. The Western Chorus was a featured group in this year s Walt Disney World Candlelight Processional Liel Azoolin Liel was recognized as one of the zones top nominees for the county (Kids of Character). She is a member of the SAC and Girls Basketball team. Served as the Chair of the Broward County Association of Student Council food drive. Started the Western Jewish Student Union Club and served as President of the Broward & Palm Beach B nai B rith Youth Organization (BBYO). Liel organized a community service and advocacy trip to Washington, D.C. this summer called IMPACT: DC-through BBYO.